Historian and local resident to Healdsburg, Californian, Ted Calvert brings to life the history of the area in two books.

Legacy of Fitch Mountain

“Legacy of Fitch Mountain encircles this iconic peak from so many angles and voices, historic and ecological, personal and philosophical, that its forested slopes come to life. The mountain‟s geology and presence parallel its essence as a place inspiring generations past and present.

Ted Calvert’s serious reflections on this “Backyard Wilderness‟ will inspire both those living within the site of this mountain and visitors from near and far to find and develop their own sense of place with land close to home that can forever nourish mind, body and spirit.”

—Craig Anderson, Executive Director of LandPaths
(Land Partners Through Stewardship), Sonoma County, CA.

“Ted Calvert has assembled a book that celebrates what is most worthy of our respect, reflection, and protection: the natural beauty of our own backyard, and the place we call home. It should be read not only by residents of Sonoma County but by anyone who admires the ever changing Northern California hills.”

—Dan Imhoff, author of Farming with the Wild, president and cofounder of Watershed Media publishing house

Healdsburg Chronicles

“From the original Pomo ancestors to the wine industry pioneer families and right up to modern “world famous” Healdsburg, Ted Calvert’s Healdsburg Chronicles connects all of us in a more meaningful way to this place we all cherish so deeply.”

Rollie Atkinson
Publisher, Sonoma West Publishers
Publisher, The Healdsburg Tribune

FOREWORD

Healdsburg, the once quiet town seventy-five miles north of San Francisco, has grown up to become a tourist destination and center of the wine industry for Sonoma County. How did it progress from a hops, walnut and prunes producing area to become one of the leading grape growing regions of the United States? Ted Calvert, a local Healdsburg historian and writer, has chronicled this journey in his new book entitled “Healdsburg Chronicles.”

Most cities have a rich heritage and great stories to be told about their past. Ted, by interviewing over eighty former and current Healdsburg residents, has produced a manuscript that speaks of the vibrancy and nostalgia that was, and is, Healdsburg today. His interviews, vivid recollections of life in Healdsburg, are written like a personal diary. They are alive and give you the feeling that this is a city which has always had much to offer its citizens and visitors.

What Ted has done so well is to introduce us to places like the Palomar Bar, Dance and Roller Skating Hall and events like waterskiing on the Russian River.  He relates a fascinating story through interviews and personal reflections of the people of Healdsburg. In this book, the past is relived in interviews of the Native California Pomo, Wappo, and Miwok Indians and locals such as Zelma Ratchford, who reflects on growing up on Fitch Mountain.

To enhance his chronicles, Ted has included several colorful pictures, which help to illustrate a story that cannot always be captured through the written word. Healdsburg’s past has truly come alive through a combination of written and photographic recollections.

Ted has captured, in both interviews and his own personal commentary, a history of a town that has gone through many changes, while still retaining much of its old charm. This is a must reading for anyone who wants to become acquainted with a community that continues to actively flourish, treasuring its rich heritage and maintaining its local culture.

            Herb Liberman
Economic Development Coordinator
Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce